I can't see a thread about them. Anyway, I went to the London 100 Club one and it was wonderful. Solid gold hits (all Hefner), Darren looking alarmingly and very sweetly happy, Jack's ace pedal steel-ing, and nice to see that they let The Wave Pictures be their backing band rather than chastising them for, um, stealing their sound.
The only reason Darren Hayman's solo stuff isn't as good as Hefner is because he got married. Without the early 20s angst, the lyrics aren't as heartbreaking and true and engaging. But I felt he really pulled off reviving the old lyrics. Presumably the sordid memories are still very clear to him.
I was at an eighties themed lesbian wedding on a boat down the Thames
... but my friend went and said there were men knitting there.
The subject of this post might be more interesting than the body.
hehe
I didn't seen any. But I'm sure they were in spirit, even if not literally :)
I went
to the one the night before at the Luminaire, and it was great fun. I enjoyed the full band stuff more than the songs where just him and jack played (although the pedal steel was sublime).
A few fluffed lyrics and chords, but was lovely to hear all the old songs again.
The subject will be even better
if everyone had to dressed as eighties themed lesbians.
Yes
The Luminaire. It was hott stuff.
Most of the sordid memories
are actually about the woman he is now married to anyway!
It was a really wonderful gig. The highlight for me was when everyone cheered at the intro to Painting And Kissing, then he stopped and said "How do you know what song it is? About twenty of my songs start like this, and five of them were singles!"
He played Painting And Kissing?!
oh man.
:D
that was my favourite bit.
Are they really about his wife? I didn't know that. That's a nice happy ending! Which ones?!
if you go onto hefnet.com
and go to the discography page he goes on in great detail about what pretty much every song is about.
ooh
I never bothered to look there, as I thought it'd just be a list of CDs! I'll have a good look.
I wish they could play in Paris.
Sadly no one seemed to care the first time ( I've seen them twice ), so it's really unlikely...
went to the cardiff gig on sunday
it was great. we got bonus wave pictures action too, i think it's probably a fair cop on the 'similarities' but i love both bands to little tiny pieces so they can be as hefnerish as they like in my book.
oh yes, me too
I had been wondering what Hefner would make of them before that though.
Amenable, I'd guess
given they've played as Hayman's backing band before and Dave Tattersall is in Hayman Watkins Trout & Lee.
zing!
http://www.clubfandango.co.uk/blog.php?url=http://www.clubfandango.co.uk/blog/?p=35
ah bullshiz
http://snipurl.com/2jvds
I was SO close to going.
I didn't make it in the end.
I had a gig myself that night and wasn't able to go to both so my ticket went to waste.
I agree with your analysis of his solo stuff. Most of the last album is either character studies, slightly dull and contented stuff or attempts to do old-style Hefner without the element of truth that made it all work.
I didn't see you there
Did you see me?
Was at Luminiare
And it was great... first show since 2001 I think.. As Darren said... All killer no filler : - )
I thought I did!
you were a bit in front of me, but I didn't get chance to see if it was and speak to you. Then Bamos said after it probably wasn't you 'cause you were organising some alldayer or something.
Aaaaaaaaaah
Yeah, I did an all-dayer on Sunday. I had to get a coach from London to Bristol at 1am after the Hefner gig :'(
Hmmm, I quite like his solo stuff...
especially the understated and subtle uke-based Static Caravan series of eps. He's really grown into his voice I'd say and is generally less annoying.
I went to the 100 club one too
was really good.
I actually prefer his 1st solo album to We Love the City and probably Dead Media too. The second one was a bit disappointing.
oh it was so so so so so so good
like being 17 again just in that one room, everyone dancing and shouting and so so happy. :D don't know who enjoyed it more, the band or the crowd. :D MORE PLEASE.
I went...
...to both nights, and the soundcheck for the 100 Club. It was aces. Especially the soundcheck, which was like my own private Halfner gig. Although my favourite bit might be when Darren's wife ran in and announced that there were people cycling naked down Oxford St.
There's a bit of a flaw in your solo albums theory by the way, he was back with his wife for most of the Hefner years. I think Darren's just... grown up. He's still writing about what he knows, it's just that's not getting hammered in bedsits anymore, it's teacher training instead...
I went to both nights too...
and they were excellent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhAjOCKyszQ